Saturday, 4 June 2016

﻿ What Black Americans Say About ‘Black-on-Black’ Gun Violence

We understand that police violence and gun crimes are two parts of the same systemic problem. If only news media saw that, too.

Over
Memorial Day weekend, at least 69 people were shot in Chicago. If past
trends continue, most of them are people of color. Mass shootings in
places like Newtown, Aurora, and San Bernardino grab national attention, but
gun violence is a regular part of life in many communities of color. Among boys
and men ages 15-34, for example, African Americans are over 20 times more
likely than whites to be victims of gun homicide.

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While more attention to gun
violence in communities of color is sorely needed, too often existing coverage
focuses on “black-on-black” dysfunction rather than structural causes and
potential solutions.

A recent New York Times story
provides an example. “A Drumbeat of Multiple
Shootings, but America is Not Listening” chronicled the victims of
358 shootings with four or more deaths or injuries. Many stemmed from arguments
over a petty grievance, an insult, or another sign of disrespect. The
story emphasized the “black-on-black” nature of gun violence, and suggested
black activists expend too much energy protesting police violence against
African Americans and too little energy focused on “routine gun violence.”
While the story’s narrative describing the death of an innocent bystander put a
compelling face on statistics, the story did not offer meaningful solutions.

The
problem of gun violence stems not just from petty grievances among impulsive
youth of color, however, but from larger structural issues such as credibility
of law enforcement, easy access to guns, and a lack of job skills and
opportunities. Communities of color care about both gun violence and police
violence. Further, communities of color are not simply sources of
problems—they also provide important solutions.

In
compiling this report, we brought together and listened to residents of
communities hard-hit by gun violence—faith leaders, formerly incarcerated
individuals, law enforcement, elected officials, social service providers,
community activists, and others. Most of the participants were black or
Latino—people like Fathers & Families of San Joaquin Executive Director
Sammy Nunez; Petersburg, Virginia, Police Chief John Dixon; and Wanda
Montgomery of Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. Others were members of our
steering committee and have devoted their careers to building safer
communities—people like Gary, Indiana, Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson; Rev. Michael
McBride of PICO National Network; and Kayla Hicks of the Educational Fund to
Stop Gun Violence. We then tested the ideas that emerged against a
nationwide survey of 600 African Americans and 600 Latinos conducted by
Benenson Strategy Group (BSG) and Ron Lester and Associates.

While
about half of African Americans we surveyed nationally described police
brutality (54 percent) and police misconduct (50 percent) in America as
extremely serious problems, 80 percent of African Americans described gun
violence in America as an extremely serious problem. Indeed, rather than
discounting gun violence or seeing it in a silo isolated from police violence,
many African Americans see the problems as interconnected. For example, 61
percent of African Americans agreed with the statement that “fewer guns on the
streets would improve the relationship between the police and the communities
they serve.”

Similarly,
the communities with which we met thought improving police-community
relationships was a key factor in reducing gun violence. Distrust that stems
from arbitrary stops and discriminatory enforcement makes residents less
willing to work with police, and makes communities less safe.

Solutions
put forth by community members were supported by the survey research. Over
90 percent of African Americans and Latinos supported strengthening police
accountability through civilian review boards, body-worn cameras, and racial
bias assessment and training of police (including new recruits). Over 76
percent of both groups support prioritizing enforcement on higher-level gun
violence offenders rather than lower-level “broken windows” offenders.

Community
members also emphasized other solutions that address structural factors that
underlie gun violence.

For example, community
residents recommended limiting access to guns by the small group of people at high
risk of engaging in violence—sometimes no more than 0.25 to 1 percent of a
city’s population. Rather than looking to greater penalties for handgun
possession that could increase mass incarceration, community members emphasized
universal background checks, mandatory reporting for lost and stolen firearms,
and increased oversight of licensed firearm dealers. Each proposal was
supported by over 86 percent of African Americans and Latinos in the survey
research. These restrictions are seen as reducing rather than fueling mass
incarceration. About three-quarters of both African Americans and Latinos
agreed that “if we keep guns out of the wrong hands, we can also help decrease
the number of people who are in prison.”

Community
members also recognized that areas hardest hit by gun violence often have
suffered disinvestment of resources by companies and the public sector, and
that many of those at high risk to commit or to be victimized by gun violence
face a lack of job skills and opportunities, addiction, and other
challenges. Thus, our report recommends increased investment in social
services targeted at high-risk populations and their families, such as drug
treatment, mental health services, job training and placement, and conflict
interrupters who mediate disputes and discourage retaliation. Over 92
percent of African Americans and over 88 percent of Latinos support solutions
like job training, life skills support, and mental health counseling available
to young people and people just released from jail or prison.

In
addition to these solutions, we heard a deep desire for community members to
engage with law enforcement, elected officials, and other community leaders in
developing and implementing solutions to gun violence.

While we should be
honest and give much-needed attention to gun violence in communities of color,
we need to consider all the facts. Focusing largely on shallow
black-on-black spats makes gun violence a “black and brown” problem, masks
deeper structural causes of gun violence, and obscures the responsibility of
all Americans to help solve the problem. Our new research suggests that
communities that are most affected by gun violence understand the challenges,
know the solutions that will have the greatest impact, and are eager to be at
the table to drive those solutions forward.